Real Talk

Alright, y’all, this is a time that we all need to come together as one and help all of the survivors and animals effected by Hurricane Harvey. I’m sure by now most of y’all are aware at how devastating this storm is and continues to be. Hundreds of thousands of people are stranded in their homes, thousands have completely lost their homes and on top of that, thousands of animals have their lives threatened as well. Shelters have been flooded and pets are being dispersed all over Texas to stay safe. This is by far one of the worst hurricanes we have ever seen so let’s band together and help those who are in need.

Allow me to introduce myself. I’m Ashley’s husband, Grayson and I’m an Instagram Husband. For those that don’t know me, that’s a scary realization considering the type of person I am. I was born in Austin, TX to two successful yet very hippie parents. I’ve played professional paintball for the past 11 years and have been playing the sport over half my life. I work at a local hedge fund as a trader and write automated algorithms to trade on my behalf. 5 years ago, could I imagine I would be helping my wife run a successful Instagram page and blog based on women’s fashion? Hell no. I didn’t (and still don’t) have a stylish bone in my body, let alone know how to work a fancy camera. My style growing up was changing into the clothes I’d wear to school the night before so I didn’t have to worry about it in the morning. As I sit here writing this, I’m at work in a RATM (Rage Against the Machine) shirt with chlorine stains on it and the same grey shorts I’ve worn the past 3 days. Somehow over the course of the past 5 years, I would learn how to shoot a fancy camera, learn all the names of fancy shoe designers and realize purses could cost as much as cars. Without further ado, here’s the one way my life has drastically changed since I married Ashley (who I will no refer to as @dtkaustin from here on out).

For most of my readers, this post probably won’t make sense, but after sensing much frustration in addition to some backlash from the blogger community I felt it extremely necessary to write a very informative post on the truth and facts regarding those pesky giveaways that continuously fill our Instagram feeds; also known as Loop Giveaways. Let me preface this by saying that this post is not an attack on anyone who chooses to do these giveaways, as we are all grown ups and can make our own decisions. This blog is specifically stating the facts from personal experience, Instagram/FB employees, fellow bloggers, and responses from specific Instagram followers of mine.

It’s been a little over three weeks since my shoulder surgery and to be completely honest, I’ve been extremely discouraged. Countless amounts of people warned me that the recovery for shoulder surgery is long and painstakingly difficult but for some reason I didn’t think it would be this hard for me. I know its only been three weeks but I thought I would be making more progress than I actually am. Not only is the pain and immobility a major issue, no one tells you about the mental effects of a surgery like this. For me, that has been one of the hardest parts. I know this is something most people don’t have to go through but I wanted to write this in hopes that it might help someone else going through the same thing.

Who else has a love/hate relationship with Target? You know, that problem where you go in needing a toothbrush and toothpaste and leave $300 later?? I seriously can’t remember the last time I left Target without spending at least $100… When I tell Grayson we need to go to Target, I see a slight fear in his eye because he knows we’ll be there at least an hour, NOT shopping for what we came for! He’s such a trooper! HA! We’re venturing out to Target in a few hours… I’ll keep you posted on if I actually stayed on track and get my toothbrush and toothpaste…and snacks… and another button down… and what else can I think of that I need?!

I know I’ve been talking all about hot dates and what to wear for Valentine’s, but I have to be honest… I really can’t stand the stereotype of V-Day! At least to me, I feel that too many people have lost focus about what Valentine’s is really about. Lately, when I grace my favorite place to waste money (Target) I am taken aback by the mass amount of pink and red hearts, V-Day cards, lots and lots of chocolate and an overwhelming amount of roses. Has this “holiday” just become a huge racket for companies to rip us off and make money with the illusion of love?? How did it get to this point?? What happened to just being happy with the one you love without going overboard spending money?? Why is there so much pressure to be overly loving on this one day when we should be focused on each other everyday??Continue Reading

By now, most of you all know that I had major shoulder surgery a week ago and I wanted to give everyone an update on what they found, fixed and how I am doing. I’ve also included some really helpful tips and tricks to help if you have to go through something similar, which I hope you don’t! It’s definitely been one of the toughest recoveries so far and I’m still only 6 days in! Continue Reading

To say this week has been hectic and stressful is an understatement. As most of you know from Instagram or Facebook I am having shoulder surgery Friday so I’ve been a little MIA trying to plan out my life for the next 2+ months while I will be out of commission. I really thought I was going to be so on top of things once this surgery got scheduled; I planned to make lists and get organized to get posts out, shoot content and just get my life in order because I literally won’t be able to care for myself for quite sometime. Thankfully, I have an amazing mom who is coming in for an entire week to make sure I am taken care of!

This post has been a long time coming… And waiting longer to post each time has made this content that much more relevant to all of us bloggers and brands out there. So let’s talk about the elephant in the room… You know that HUGE issue that everyone is complaining about but no one will openly talk about? The issue of influencers/bloggers buying their interaction (likes, comments, video views) and followers. This has become such a growing issue since the latest Instagram algorithm change which switched our feeds from chronological to a similar algorithm which Facebook uses. The change hurt almost every single blogger that I know, large and small, plus the introduction of Instagram Stories hurt our interaction even more. In response to this change we are now seeing countless influencers buying their way to the top now. Whether it be followers or likes, this issue is getting out of control.

From recent events, and pretty much the entire time I’ve been blogging, I feel very inclined to write this blog post. Getting into this business I quickly learned what it took to be successful to grow your following. Being true to yourself and your style is obviously the most important but being cohesive is almost equally important. If you look at my instagram, it’s pretty easy to see that I have a dark and monochromatic theme. I am a meticulous planner so coming up with creative content takes time. To stay true to my style and to create a cohesive feed, I have to plan out my shoots and posts very carefully and this isn’t always an easy task.